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An Actual Issue to Be Outraged About

There has been a lot of social media traffic concerning laws about who gets to use what bathroom. Much of the traffic supporting these laws cites safety of our daughters as a good reason for supporting these laws. Not that there is any actual documentation of transgender people being a safety risk to anyone (the exact opposite is true – transgender people are the folks who are at risk on a daily basis). The safety aspect really is a non-issue but it sure generates a lot of web traffic and website hits because it plays on people’s fears. And for the record, I have five daughters and five granddaughters. Please believe me when I say that I’m an advocate of keeping them safe.

The retailer Target decided to not play into the fear game and publicly came out with a store policy that allows people to use the bathroom that fits their gender identification. A great outcry has arisen and there is an effort to boycott Target.

So there’s a boycott out there over a non-issue. Perfect.

How about this. If you are in favor of boycotting Target for their stance on bathrooms then I want to invite you to boycott an event with an actual issue. An issue that genuinely puts our daughters at risk on a continued and ongoing basis. That issue is the sex trafficking that happens during the College World Series.

This doesn’t get a lot of press space because the horror of sex trafficking at one of the sporting world’s premier events, the College World Series, conflicts with our usual conception of apple pie America’s favorite pastime of baseball. If you go to the CWS you won’t see sex trafficking out in the open. The CWS really is a neatly packaged week of fun that is great family entertainment. I’ve been to several and in and of itself it really is a great event. But that shouldn’t hide the reality of what is going on in the background.

You wouldn’t think sex trafficking would be a thing in a state as wholesome as Nebraska. Sadly, it is. Law enforcement authorities see a spike in trafficking when there are large events such as the CWS, the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting (I didn’t see that coming but click on the link for the reality), and the like.

This is where your daughters are really at risk. In October 2015 the FBI rescued 149 trafficking victims nationwide in Operation Cross Country IX. Of the 149, 3 victims were transgender, and three were male. Simple math suggests 143 were female and of these victims the youngest was 12. Think about that for a minute. Someone was willing to put a 12 year old girl’s body up for sale and someone was willing to pay for it. Seriously.

Here is where your daughters are at risk. I mean really at risk.

Where is the outrage? Where are the boycotts? Where is the social media traffic? Where are the strident voices of the straight, white men who are the primary purveyors and customers of this sex trafficking? Sadly, it is primarily silence that is heard.

I’m only partially kidding about boycotting the CWS. Boycotts don’t generally have too much of an effect but I’m not kidding about men standing up to this horrific abuse. If you have sons, raise them to understand how wrong it is. If you have friends who might be inclined to answer an online ad for an escort, let them know how wrong it is. If you know someone or a situation where someone might be a victim of trafficking, do something about it. These aren’t funny, guys night out, what plays in Vegas stays in Vegas, kinds of activities. These are victims who are someone’s daughter.

Men cause it. Men need to put a stop to it. Be outraged about something that is an actual issue to be concerned about.